Friday, November 28, 2014

“THIS ONE REALLY HURTS”

That message was on my iphone.It came from Morton moments after the Bears
went down to ignominious defeat—yet again—at da feet of da Stanford State
Indians.

Yes, it really hurt.Why?Was it because we were “jobbed” by the officials?We were—but that is not why we lost.

Was it because the Indians
were better than we were?They were—but
is that the only reason we lost?

Was it because we were out
coached?We weren’t—but is Dykes and the
formerly “hurry up offense” the foundation for success going forward?

It wasn’t Dykes fault.But is he the future?

Was it because the stadium
was not packed?And the air seems to
have gone out of the Big Game balloon with only a reported 6,000 Stanford
Alumni attending?

We can remember when the
Stadium was half red and half blue.

It wasn’t any one thing—yet
it was so many things.

How often have you heard the
words, “I just want to live long enough to see the Bears go to the Rose Bowl?”Forget Naples.We want to “See the Bears in Pasadena,” then
die. Alas, it looks like we are now
closer to the latter than to the former.

Joe Kapp famously gave up
downing Tequila until the Bears go to the Rose Bowl.If this keeps up, he’ll be forced to give up Metamusal.Most of us can’t even remember what Tequila
is used for.

The dead giveaway was when I
looked up at the entrance to Memorial Stadium and saw the inscription,“Lasciate ogne
speranza, voi ch'intrate."

It has become apparent for some
time we don’t need Dante to warn us “Abandon Hope all ye’ who enter here.”

Rooting for the Bears has become
nothing if not a “Divine Comedy.”

Of course, Dante erred in
coming up one circle short.He toured
only 9 circles of Hell—Virgil being kind enough to spare him from the 10th,
most tortuous circle—that of the never dying “wait’ll-next-year Cal alumnus.”In circle 8 the fraudulent were buried head
first with their flaming feet facing upwards.Circle 10 is reserved for Cal Alumni—who’s eyes fail to see and accept
reality and whose heads are perpetually stuck up their backsides for all
eternity.

Will we never learn?

No, it hurt so badly because
it all seems so hopeless.Allah knows
we’ve got lots of experience licking our wounds after many a Big Game.

Win
or lose, the Big Game has retained a certain majesty—an inexplicable aura of
magic.It could have been Paul Larson
coming back from 3 TD’s down to tie the Indians in my first Big Game in ’53.The 14 point underdog Bears upsetting the
Indians in Pappy’s final game in ’56. Patton and Hart stopping Skip Face at the
goal line to send us to the Rose Bowl in ’59.Rose Bowl bound 10.5 point favorite Indians, featuring Heisman winner,
Jim Plunket being upset 22-14 in 1970.Ferragamo
to Sweeny on the last pass of the last game of the last season to defeat the
Indians in ’72.

Should
I go on?

You
want to hear about 15 point underdog Bears beating Elway 28-23 in 1980?Or in ’86 when the 21 point underdog Bears
(after 8 straight losses) upset the Indians 17-11 in Joe Kapp’s final game as
head coach?

And
I think there was a game in 1982 when the bears were down with 4 seconds to go
and John Elway’s Indians were kicking off—but it’s so long ago, I can’t
remember what happened on that “play.”

It’s
not all ancient history.In 2009 the
Indians were 9-1 ranked #6.A last
second interception by Michael Mohamed of an Andrew Luck
pass saved the game for the Bears.

And
ever since it’s been “Meh.”Last year’s
63 to 13 summed it up better than Dante ever could.

Big
Game had always had the aura of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause.Probably there’s a rational reason why things
happen (really dad or mom snuck money under the pillow or presents under the
tree), but who wants to look to closely and perhaps destroy the mystery?

It’s
not that any one meant to do any harm, but they began pulling off Santa’s beard
when they began changing the kick off times for Big Game.Then they added a game after the Big Game so
it was no longer the dénouement.Then it
became the fourth week of the season—played in October, no less.Then brilliant minds thought it should be moved
to Levi Stadium.

Each
one of these events helped destroy the magic.I can assure you that none of the geniuses behind these moves ever read
a Joseph Campbell book on mythology, or believed in the tooth fairy after his 6th
birthday.(Somehow I see Larry Scott at
age 7, “proving” to his brothers and
sisters that the Santa in Macy’s was really a Bowery St. Bum working a part
time gig—but I digress).

Money
talks—magic walks.The Indians’ coach, David
Shaw (whom I admire in so many ways) can’t even be bothered to do the
Guardsmen’s lunch, a decades’ old tradition that raises money for disadvantaged
kids.He’s too busy preparing for the
game.

Tedford
groused and grumbled all the way to the Bohemian Club for the traditional Big
game dinner and gala—allegedly sitting in his car with a yellow pad, ordering
his go-fer to wait until the very last minute before releasing him from the
limo.(He also ended the tradition of
the assistant coaches coming to the dinner).

Take
the team to the Big Game Rally the night before?Maybe for a cameo, then off to meetings—if
that.

Twice
we were headed in the right direction.In
the early 90’s Snyder had the program where it ought to be then a mental midget
and crass guy let him go.

Then
in Tedford’s early years (hired by Gladstone) he had us on the road to
excellence both academically and athletically.Then (and I have no idea why) from L’affair Lepois on, the program
tanked both academically and athletically.

Here’s
an odd bit of trivia.If you look up
Cal’s 10 greatest Big Game wins there’s an argument to made that they would
include, ’56, 58, 82, and ’86.What did
those games have in common?The guy my
father used to call “Joe, Joe—The Kapp, Kapp.”

Coincidence?Perhaps.

Or
maybe whether Joe was a textbook qb, or a good coach or a bad coach—lots of
folks have opinions on that--he had a certain je ne se qua—something intangible that allowed him to be present
when magic happens.Or maybe he was the
source of that magic?

Some
people are like that.Some people are
winners.Some people are always around
the ball.Some people are always at the
plate when the game is on the line.There is neither rhyme nor reason.It’s in the hands of the Gods.

Like
Big Game used to be.

We’ve
taken it from the hands of the Gods and put it in the hands of the technocrats
and bureaucrats.But that’s another column.

Kapp
and Morton (who, oddly, never beat the Indians) are Cal royalty.Childhood idols, they’ve become long time
friends to me and to all friends of Cal.What they share with all those who have put on a hat and run out of that
tunnel and on to the field is an amazing sense of Pride—pride of being a Bear.Pride of having attended (and survived) Cal—the most difficult (and I’m
not just talking academics) University in country.

Any
kid who gets through Cal has accomplished something no other College grad in
the country can even relate to.Cal can
be cold, unfeeling, unforgiving, forlorn—even cruel.Yet, it’s great.Like New York, if you can make it there, you
can make it anywhere.It’s what binds
us.

That’s
why we bleed when we are so obviously out classed by the Indians.Yes, it hurts—really hurts.

And
at this point we don’t seem to have an answer.

All
we have is our pride—and no solution to the conundrum.

Maybe
a new AD with a vision of Cal as the Kapps, the Ed Whites and the Mortons (who
was unceremoniously let go by our former AD) see it, will help.Maybe there is no answer.Maybe the previous administration caused a
tipping point where (after a tall good lookin’ guy reported in May of 2012 that
we were 112 out of 123 schools in graduating kids), they let us fall to
absolute last in the entire country
the next year.No pride there.Folks just didn’t care—about the kids, about
the program, about the school.

What
will it take?I have no idea.Maybe we need the Lovin’ Spoonful.Do you believe in Magic? Life's Hell if you don't.

2 comments:

Cherknic
said...

Well written! In addition, I must say it was so sad to see this game of "wack-a-mole" after the players have worked so hard all year. It seems the spirit of the game has been forsaken in order to capture the almighty dollar--which is sorely needed to maintain our university. It is truly sad for this loyal fan who remains hopeful for next year's successful season.

Nicely written, but overly depressing. Dykes received a team that had its soul removed by the departure of Tedford and his recruiting guru. After last year, we had "heart", a very inventive offensive mind and hope for a better future. The Bears this year are the start of that future. This year, the Bears did produce. . . have you forgotten already? We were one "Hail Mary" and a few seconds (UCLA) from being 7 wins even before Stanford.I take great pride in what the Bears did this year when no one "in the know" gave us a chance to win more than 3 games!Coach Dykes has done a great job at making one of the youngest teams in Division I competitive. He also had the vision when he first arrived to observe Cal is like a sleeping giant. Give these people (Dykes, his coaching staff, and the Bear Team) a chance to develop. Your comments remind me of a University President's comments, to wit,"To be a successful president one must provide parking for the faculty, beer for the students, and a winning team for the alumni."The Big Game isn't an event fixed in space. I was present at many of the Big Games you mentioned. Although they are all similar in atmosphere, no two of them were alike. They reflect the human condition that everything is subject to change. The one common lesson that Cal taught us all is that success in life is not given. Sometimes the people with the black hats win, but it isn't for want of trying, or heart, or good coaching.Final thought, our team deserves our support. In every game I witnessed this year from Northwestern through BYU, they never quit. Cal Alumni could take a lesson from them. We shouldn't be fair weather friends. We are on the right track. Watchfulness, patience and support should be our keys. All of this hand wringing, dreaming of the good olde days (they really weren't that good) and crying in our beer does not befit graduates of Cal.

About Me

I write a Weekly Column for the St. Helena Star and have a Weekly Radio Show on KVON 1440am (KVON.com) on Wednesday's at 5pm. My Columns are about daily small town life in rural St. Helena. I'm old school and often write about the "old Days." I'm a Capitalist an believe in individual liberty and the rugged individualist. I also do a weekly blog on my trips to the Cal Bears Football games--but you gotta luv the Bears to like it. Having no marketable skills I sell dirt (vineyards wineries, ranches and estates), having formerly been a Creative Director and Copy Writer in New York and S.F.